


A Capable Leader

by flame_hotman



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aunt-Niece Relationship, F/M, Family Fluff, Multi, Sister-Sister Relationship, Swearing, Uncle-Niece Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-17 12:40:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29966532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flame_hotman/pseuds/flame_hotman
Summary: Freshly 16, Izumi wanted to prove her worth as Firelord Zuko and Firelady Mai’s daughter.Instead of serving her nation, she was sent to intern as in Republic City as a councilwoman. Very well. It was not what she expected, but she’ll succeed no matter what.Also, there’s Bumi. Damn hormones, she only wanted to work, not fall head over heels for the Avatar’s son!
Relationships: Aang & Izumi (Avatar), Bumi II/Izumi (Avatar), Iroh & Izumi (Avatar), Izumi & Katara (Avatar), Izumi & Kya (Avatar), Izumi & Mai (Avatar), Izumi & Tenzin (Avatar), Izumi & Zuko (Avatar), Lin Beifong & Izumi (Avatar)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 20





	1. Maybe,,, I could help you, dad?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @ohsalamaders  
> @shrinkthisviolet
> 
> Thanks for your support and comments.

“I’ve said no twice Izumi, and it isn’t going to change the third time.”

“But I’m 16 now! I want to step up and help our nation! I’ve been studying diplomacy and firebending since I was 4 years old! You saved the world when you were 16 and I’m just sitting at home like that spoiled Hou-Ting! I- I hate your stupid rules!”, she shouted.

_The candle flames didn’t as much as flicker, a sign of her strong control over her element,_ she would have noted with pride, hadher mind been un-occupied of the argument going on.

Her father put his head in his hand and sighed.

“Izumi. Go to your room right now. I’ll talk to my advisors and see if anything can be arranged.”, he noticed her glare, “I will not hear a word about it.”

She huffed and stormed outside, not caring to acknowledge any servants or guards. There was only place where she could go to right now. Grandpa Iroh’s chambers.

They were comforting and familiar to her. Instead of the bright reds and golds, his room was decorated in light blues and green. A sight for sore eyes indeed. It was decorated with various items from all 4 nations, some of which Uncle Aang had gifted to him.

“Grandpa Iroh? May I talk to you?”

He was reclining on a sofa, reading a document, squinting slightly. Upon hearing her voice, he looked up and smiled. He put down the scroll in such a way that she couldn’t see contents of the scroll. This, of course, did not go unnoticed by her but she didn't care. Grandpa Iroh wasn’t obligated to share everything with her.

“Of course my dear tea leaf! It been so long since we’ve talked. Come, sit.” He patted the space next to him.

“We talked at breakfast today Grandpa Iroh.” she rolled her eyes in mock annoyance.

“But every moment feels like a decade without you. Now, how may I help you? You look troubled.”

“I had a fight with dad about stuff. I want to step into diplomatic actions but he thinks that I should be enjoying life! I’m 16, I should start serving my nation. He became Firelord at 16 and defeated Ozai! I’m not a baby anymore.”

Her grandfather regarded her expression curiously. She stared back at him, unflinching.

“I was reading this report from the United Republic. Perhaps you should not know about this but I trust you. There have been protests in Republic City about the corruption of council members. I’m not sure about the full details but maybe Zuko will allow you to act as a diplomat from the Fire Nation.”

Her eyebrows furrowed together in understanding.

It was a simple mission. Go help the sovereign state, gain trust of world leaders as the heir of the Fire Nation. Come back home and gain trust of her father in her leadership abilities. Truly, grandpa Iroh was a master strategist.

She squealed and hugged her grandfather. “I love you so much Grandpa Iroh!! You’re a genius!!”

“Says the only person who came close to beating me at pai-sho!”, he laughed.

She pulled back from the hug unexpectedly. “Dad will allow me, right? If he can’t let me do work in the Fire Nation, then what about a foreign state?”

Grandpa Iroh chuckled, “I’ll convince him. Besides, you can always stay with your Uncle Aang in Republic City. He’ll allow you. Trust me.”

“Uncle Aang... Isn’t Bumi about my age?”

Her grandfather looked at her with a positively evil look in his eyes, “The last time Bumi visited us, you declared that he was the handsomest boy you had ever seen. He is an year older than you, now that you mention him.”

“Grandpa!”, she blushed the shade of sakura blooms, “I was 6 the last he visited. Ugh! That memory still haunts me. I’m your only grandkid, don’t kill me of embarrassment!”

All the evil old grandpa did was chuckle and affectionately peck her cheek.

“That’s what grandparents are for. Now, are you ready for a game of pai sho?”

“I’m always ready.”

Why did her grandpa have to tease her about an old crush? She didn’t even remember him that well. All she remembered was that awful moment and another when Bumi had begged her mother to teach him ‘how to be scarily cool’ in his words. They spent the whole weekend chucking knives and blades at targets.

It was lovely memory actually. Whenever she hit a target, he stared at her like she has singlehandedly taken down 15 assassins.

Well, he’s probably grown into a arrogant bastard, ‘the son of the avatar’. She was mostly looking forward to meeting little Tenzin and Kya. She was so ready to act as Kya’s elder sister and babysit Tenzin on her off days.

That is, if her father actually let her go the city.

After finishing a thrilling round of pai-sho which may or may not have lasted till dinner, she and Grandpa Iroh headed to the informal dining hall.

Her mother was sitting at the right of her father’s seat at the head of the table. She smiled warmly at her and Uncle Iroh. Her father was reading a scroll, waiting for them to join the meal.

“Zuko. Put the scroll down. I understand that it’s a great thriller play, but it is family time right now.”

She picked up her chopsticks and surveyed the meal present.

He sheepishly put the scroll down, “Of course Mai.” His tone of voice could tell her about his embarrassed blush.

Stalknose mushroom with rice. An indicator of good harvest and rainfall. Freshly smoked sea slugs. No sea storms were harming the fishing industry them. Rice wine, not that she drank. Wagashi puffs, her favourite. She specifically loved the cranberry flavour, something which her mother disliked.

“Nephew, you must not overwork yourself.”

“Dad-”

He looked at her warmly.

“Izumi, I wanted to tell you something. I want to send you Republic City on a diplomatic basis. There have been problems about the increasing corruption in council members. I’m sending you to Republic City for 3 months to keep check on the Fire Nation council-member. You’ll also be acting as his trainee too. That way you can get real life experience. Is that fine with you?”

Her parents looked towards her expectantly. Her grandfather looked proudly at her.

She was vibrating with happiness and excitement and forgot to swallow before speaking.

“Thank you so much dad, I-”, and she choked on the smoked sea slugs. Great. Way to prove that you can handle responsibilities.

Her grandfather thumped her on the back like a baby, “You’re still our baby Izumi.”

She grinned at her father and thanked him profusely, her mother smiled at her and her grandfather was beaming at her.

—————————

“Mom! I can’t find my lipstick!!”

“Why exactly do you need a lipstick Izumi?”, her mom’s expression was gentry questioning.

“Because, I’m going to Republic City! Their media is ruthless and I’ll need to look perfect for people to accept me, won’t I?”

Her mother’s face took on a slightly darker look as she approached her, “Listen to me turtleduck. I knew someone who ended up broken because of perfection. She’s better now, but seeing her like that was terrifying. I don’t want that to happen to you. People will like you because you’re the heir of Zuko, the sifu of the Avatar. Don’t let them get close to you. You’re perfect with all your imperfections.”

“Aunt Azula.”

“Just try- try to stay safe and healthy, okay? Your father and I love you.”

She nodded ,taking her mother’s words seriously. She rarely talked in this tone but when she did, her words offered much appreciated wisdom and advice.

“Would you like for me to comb your hair?”

She smiled gently, “Of course, mom.”

Her mother fetched a comb from the messy dressing table and undid her hair. Her hair didn’t get tangled easily, which was something she inherited from her mother. She started humming an old tune while her mother combed her hair.

“I wish we could do this everyday.”

“When you come back, I’ll comb your hair every night turtleduck.”

After her hair was combed, her mother kissed her forehead, “I need to go right now, make some arrangements for your leaving. Pack your stuff within 2 hours, you have to leave in 3.”

“Yes mom.”

Her mom elegantly walked out of the room while she was sitting on the floor slouching.

“Damn it.”

She divided her clothes into 3 categories. Casual, work clothes and formal clothes. Underwear and training clothes came somewhere there. After packing her clothes, she moved on to her possessions. They included her combs, makeup, knives, books and other things. While packing her books, a ray of reflected sunlight blinded her for a second. When she looked for the source of the reflection, her eye caught a new set of throwing knives.

Willow Leaf Knives. They were heavier than what she was accustomed to, but she could probably use them in a pinch if needed. However, it would be more suited to someone with a heavier build. Maybe Bumi could use them, that is, if he had kept up with his practice.

Now that she thought about it, maybe she should pack some personal gifts for everyone. Not from Crown Princess Izumi but from Izumi, a family friend.

She glanced around her room, hoping for something to catch her eye. She had already chosen the knives for Bumi, what about the other two?

“No, no, no. I can’t give a 10 year old _this_.”

“Emi !”, she acknowledged her servant. The poor girl had been standing beside the curtains for the past 40 minutes.

“Yes your honour. How may I serve you?”

“You have a 10 year old sister don’t you?”

“Eleven actually.”

“Oh. I’m sorry for missing her birthday then. Can you help me? If you could gift something to your sister, what would give her?”

“I’d give her a book. Children near that age enjoy reading books. Miss Kya might enjoy books about the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom, after all she lives in a place with a mixed culture.”

“Thank you Emi. By the way, has Jihoon told Daiyu that he likes her? He’s honestly a wimp by this point.”, she chuckled.

Emi smiled and chitchat continued between the two for a few minutes.

“Would you mind getting me a copy of Love in Kang Ding from dad? Ask him for the abridged version.”, she requested.

Unlike other nobles, her parents had taught her to behave cordially with servants and not to be rude to them. She didn’t understand how other people could treat servants in the way they did. She was quite disgusted by it actually. True, that she had a higher rank than almost everyone in the nation, but it didn’t give her the right to be an asshole for no reason.

“Here you go your highness.”, Emi had returned with almost new book. The only thing which distinguished its state of excellence was a small scratch on the front cover.

She had already packed what she wanted to get for Tenzin. Apparently, he was a very serious child.She decided to get him a pai-sho set.

After an hour of packing her bags, she was finally ready to leave. The Royal Wagon was waiting on the path outside her wings, ready to go to the docks. Her parents and grandfather were already sitting in the carriage and were waiting for her.

“I’m going to miss you so much my little turtleduck.”

“Can’t she stay herea little longer Zuko? It’s barely been a week since we’ve decided to send her to Republic City.”

“Mom!! I can always call you!! Uncle Teo and grandpa Meng invented telephones for a reason!”

“I would prefer it if you chose to send me letters instead. This old man does not wish to learn how to operate a telephone at this age.”

The rest of the way was spent with her bickering and her family coddling her.

It was when her ship finally departed that she chose to acknowledge her state of anxiety.

Well, she’d better go to sleep, right?

She could address her state of mind the next morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ll probably update this by next weekend.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After 3 weeks of being on the sea, Izumi finally decides to acknowledge her feelings and fears.  
> She’s just missing her home _so much_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry for the slightly short chapter.  
> It’s not useful for plot-purposes however it does give you guys a   
> look into Izumi’s state of mind.
> 
> Have a nice week y’all! 💕💕💕

She was tired. Extremely exhausted.

Also, she was sick. She had sea-legs like her father, but she wasn’t able to sleep the previous night . She blamed the chilly weather. She was extremely worried and anxious about whatever was going to happen and was thus unable to behave like a normal human being, let alone the Crown Princess of the most powerful nation in the world.

“Are you sure that you would like to work?”

“Yes. No. I don’t know! Am I seriously ill?”

“I don’t think so, your highness.”

“Then what happened?

“You’re mentally down, which caused you to catch a chill easily.”

“Fuck. Don’t tell dad I swore.”

“I won’t, your highness.”

“Meh, call me Izumi.”

The doctor’s eyebrow rose into his forehead, an indication of judgement, but his eyes were twinkling.

“Should I address you informally as well, Izumi?”

“Yes, I would prefer that. I might be a princess, but you are a distinguished palace healer. Please feel free to address me like you would address anyone else.”

“Sure Izumi. Now, since you have given me permission to talk to you freely, I am ordering you to eat bland noodles and go to sleep. No arguments.”

“I take my permission back.”

“Not possible now kid.”

Her eyebrows burrowed together before she got up and walked away. She could hear the doctor chuckling distantly and smiled weakly.

She made her way to her room, slightly nauseous and sat down on her bed.

Sighing, she reached for the letter under her pillow and re-read it once again. 

_Hello Izumi,  
This is your Uncle Aang and Aunt Katara. We’re sure that your father told you that you’ll be coming to stay with us for the next 3 months. We’ve already cleaned a room and cleared an unused courtyard for your Firebending practice. We just wanted to tell you that we’re looking forward to having you stay with us, and we hope that you’re looking forward to spending time in Republic City as well.  
Kya in particular is very excited to meet you. Ever since we mentioned that you’re 16 and the Crown Princess of the Fire Nation, she’s been vibrating with excitement. She seems extremely determined to make you her elder sister and even though she doesn’t show it as much as Kya, Lin is pretty excited to meet you too.  
We hope that you’ll enjoy your time with us and that we can have fun together. You’re Zuko’s daughter, that basically makes you family for us! You’ll love Republic City so much.   
Much love,  
Uncle Aang and Aunt Katara_

Despite having never met Kya before, she was already liking her. Being an only child, she wasn’t sure how siblings behaved but she’d kill anyone who tried to look at Kya wrong. 

Was she not wearing her glasses or was everything supposed to be this blurry? She shook her head, but everything remained the same.

A servant meekly opened her door with a creak, carrying a bowl of noodles and a cup on a tray, “Your highness, Doctor Yeol ordered me to give you bland noodles with ginger tea.”

She nodded and gestured for the servant to place the tray on her table. The servant was then dismissed with a grateful nod of her head and she made her way towards the table. She delicately sipped the tea, just grandpa had taught her.

“Ugh! This is tastes so awful! Grandpa could make better tea asleep!”

She didn’t even like tea, but after drinking whatever that was, she could go for a cup of grandpa’s tea.

She smiled, remembering the time when she had finally confessed to him that she did not like tea.

_  
“Grandpa, there’s something I need to tell you.”, she shifted under the light gaze of her grandfather._

_“Of course! Come sit with me. You can tell me whatever you want over a nice cup of ginseng tea.”_

_She gulped, her heartbeat suddenly too loud for her liking, “That’s the thing. I hate drinking tea.”_

_“Oh”_

_“Oh indeed.”_

_“My own granddaughter. Hating tea!” He started tearing up slightly._

_Izumi gaped, surely disliking tea wasn’t that much of an offence._

_“I’m sorry, I like mango juice more!” She declared with all the cheerfulness a 7 year old could have after spotting some in her grandfather’s cabinet._

_“You do?” He raised his head and looked at her._

_She vigorously nodded._

_“Very well, I’ll overlook your hatred for tea because I love you more than I love tea.”_

_“You love me more than tea?”_

_“I love you more than anything.”_

Remising about the old memory, she barely noticed when she had finished the noodles, although she left the tea untouched.

Slightly bored, she picked up an old theatre scroll of hers. Her mother blamed her father for turning her into a theatre nerd but she was the one who always took her to plays. She was missing her family to the point where it felt like there was something incomplete inside her. An aching pain. It was numb now, but all she wanted was to talk to her mother.

She furiously rubbed away her tears, it had been more than a fortnight since she had left home and she was due to reach Republic City tonight. She was 16, her father had already saved the world and-

Fuck it.

Her mother’s words about being perfect came to her mind, and she let the tears flow down. She might be overreacting, but it just how she felt. Assorted memories about her family went through her mind.

Her father still insisted on tucking her into bed, her mother always sneaked her those cringy romance novels with a small smile, her grandfather always overlooked her training and smiled at her. Hell, even Uncle Tom-Tom took on her to picnics and Aunt Kiyi sneaked her sweets even when mom told her not to.

For a long time, all that could be heard in her chambers was sniffling.

Not for the first time, she picked up a picture of her family from her desk and gazed longingly at it.

She had been working the whole day; catching up on news from Republic City, practicing greetings from the various nations, overthinking in general. It was _too much_. Republic City? How did dad trust her? It was just so scary. Did dad feel like this when he took the throne? She closed her eyes and tried to mediate. Nothing happened.

“Ugh!! It’s too hard. What if I fail, or worse, I embarrass dad? People already think that I’m some spoiled princess. You know what? I’m Izumi, daughter of Zuko and Mai and I’m gonna prove them wrong! I’ll make mom and dad proud of me!” Although it wasn’t very effective, it did make calm enough to slip into an undisturbed sleep.

She woke up to slight rocking of the ship and noted that her mind was clearer than before. She glanced at the clock.

It was 6 in the evening and they were supposed to reach in an hour. Already the view from her window had turned from the ocean, to rural coastline, to a line of glittering lights.

When she reached the main deck, she could just make out the figure of a grinning airbender on the docks.

All her tears spent, she shakily grinned. She was _here ___

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> izumi sweetie pls get a therapist
> 
> also i’m gonna hire a lawyer for cool-uncle-who’s-close-to-your-age-Tom-Tom rights.
> 
> my brain: you can’t just ignore a fic for almost a week and then write a short chapter in an hour!!!  
> me: haha ipad go brrr
> 
> the next update will probably be on sunday or something.


End file.
